eippien



2 SheetsSh'eet 1.

N BE P I N .I n ..S

(No ModeL) Patented Oct. 9,1894. 17 .1

(No Modl.) r 2 Sheet-Sheet 2/ v H. A. RIPPIBN.

SPRING'HINGE.

4 No. 527,158. Patente d 001;. 9, 1894.

w "Ml mTiFllmmf Human HERBERT A. RIPPIEN, OF FREEPORT,

.UNITED STATES PATENT O FIC ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR on ONE-HALFITO DAVID H.BOKHO'F, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,158, dated October9,1894.

' Application filedApril 11, 1293. sol-n1 No. 469,875. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERBERT A. RIPPIEN, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSpring- Hinges, of which the following is a specifica-' tion.

My invention relates to improvements in spring hinges, its object beingto provide a reversible hinge adapted to be used either asbodying myinvention applied as a surface hinge. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the hinge,the door, and the jamb and casing thereof. Fig. 3 is a transversehorizontal section through the line 33, Fig. 1. 'Fig. 4 is a frontelevation of the hinge reversed and applied as a mortise hinge. Fig. 5is a transverse horizontal section through the line 5-5, Fig. 4. Fig. 6is a similar section through the line 6-6, Fig. 4, the leaves being intheir normal position and in the same plane; and Fig. 7 is a Viewsimilar to Fig. 6, but with one of the leaves swung ninety degreestowardthe other from the position illustrated in Fig. 6. In all the horizontalsections the View is downward.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A, A are two leaves of suitable form provided withterminal ears, B, B, B, B, joined by a pintle, O, and forming knucklejoints at the ends of the hinge. The bases of the two leaves are in thesame plane and are adapted to be applied to the surface of the casing,J, and door, J, by means of screws preferably cone-headed and set incountersinks in the leaves. Between the ears, B, B, is a coiled spring,S, of usual form encircling the pintle and having its ends in engagementwith and supported by plates, D, D. The ends, 3, s, of the spring arepreferably straight and lie in grooves in arms, (1, d,

' formed on the margins of the plates, D, D,

respectively. The arms, d, d, are so con- I structed and arranged withreference to the leaf, A, as to press against it in opposite di-;rections,the force of the end, 3, of the spring being exerted to swingthe leaf, A, in the direction indicated by the arrow, as, Fig. 1, and 55 the force of the end, 8, being exerted to force it in the directionindicated by the arrow, 41:, I

in saidfigure; The two plates, D, D, are also provided with'lugs, Z, Z,respectively, these lugs being so arranged as to press in opposite 6odirections against the leaf, A, the lug, Z, being pressed against saidleaf in the direction indicated bythe arrow, m and the lug, Z,beingpressed against it in the direction indicated by the arrow, 05?, Fig. 2.The force of the spring thus balances itself by pressing equally inopposite directions against each of the leaves, and the net result ofthese forces is a tendency to hold the leaves in a fixed position inwhich the spring is at its lowest tension.

When the hinge is in the position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the doorand the leaf, A, may be swung in the direction indicated by the arrow,m, Fig. 2, until the leaf, A, has 7 passed through an angle ofsubstantially one hundred and eighty degrees, the position of thevarious parts when the leaf, A, has swung through an angle of ninetydegrees being shown in Fig. 3. It will be seen that as the shoulder, Z,fromthe surface of the leaf, A,

against which it rests when in its normal position. At the same time,the leaf, A, swings away from the arm, d, on the plate, D, that platebeing held stationary by the lug, Z,

which resists the tendency of the spring to 0 rotate it about thepintle. When the door after being swung away from its normal position,is released, the force of the spring carries it back at once and tendsto hold it in its normal position until force sufficient 5 to overcomethe resistance of the spring is again applied to it. i I

I The parts of the hinge shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, are the same asthose already described,

but as shown in these figures, the hinge is re- [00 versed, the platesbeing screwed to the surface of the casing, J, and door, J, but in aposition opposite to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When thus applied, thespring instead of being projected from the surface of the door andeasing, lies in a suitable recess within the edge of the door, thepintle line of the hinge being preferably in a plane midway between thetwo faces of the door. The leaves are fastened to the door and casing bymeans of screws which may be either set in countersinks, the screw-holesbeing countersunk from both sides for that purpose, or may beroundheaded screws, such as are illustrated in the drawings. When thehinge is thus applied, the margin of the door next the jamb or casingmust be rounded, or the edge of the casing must be made concave, inorder that the door may swing freely in either direction and the hingethen operates as what is known as a double-swing hinge permitting thedoor to swing in either direction, but tending to return it from eitherdirection to its normal position in the plane of the casing.

Referring to the figures, it is evident that the leaf, A,may swing inthe direction indicated by the arrow 00 in Fig. 5, and that thisoperation will be precisely th same as the one illustrated in Fig. 3,and already described. It is also evident that the leaf, A, may swing inthe direction indicated by the arrow, (1: Fig. 6, and that in so doingit must carry with it the arm, 01', of the plate, D, and thus rotate theplate and swing the lug, Z, away from the leaf, A, as illustrated inFig. 7. At the same time this movement of the leaf, A, must carry itaway from the arm, d, of the plate, D, that plate being held stationaryby means of the lug, Z, which is pressed against the leaf, A, in themanner clearly shown in Fig. 5. The hinge thus permits the swinging ofthe leaf, A, and the door in either direction from its normal positionand the spring tends to bring the door back to its normal position whenit has been swung away from it in either direction.

Having now described and explained myinvention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the reversible leaves, A, A, provided with earspivoted together to form knuckle joints, of the spring lying between theears and the plates engaging the ends of the spring and adapted to pressin opposite directions against each of the leaves, the pintle line ofthe. hinge being out of the plane of the two leaves and the leaves beingreversible and adapted to present either of their opposite faces to thesurface of a door and its casing, whereby the spring may lie within theedge of a door or be projected from the face thereof.

2. The combination with the leaves, A, A, having ears, l3, B, B, B,pivoted together to form knuckle joints, of the spring, S, and thelates, D, D, engagin the ends of thes rin P s P a and formed with arms,cl, cl, and lugs, Z, Z, respectively, the two arms being adapted topress in opposite directions against one leaf and the two lugs inopposite directions against the other leaf, and the leaves beingreversible whereby the spring may lie either within or without the edgeof the door; substantially as shown and described.

HERBERT A. RIPPIEN.

l/Vitnesses:

ALLEN JANSSEN, WILLIAM N. ORONKITE.

